U.S. Embassy Kosovo office expresses gratitude for SATMO assistance

Kosovo's Security Force Soldiers conduct their annual Field Training Exercise, focusing on disaster response and civil agencies, with the support of the U.S. Army Security Assistance Training Management Organization.

Kosovo's Security Force Soldiers conduct their annual Field Training Exercise, focusing on disaster response and civil agencies, with the support of the U.S. Army Security Assistance Training Management Organization.

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FORT BRAGG, N.C. -- The U.S. Army Security Assistance Management Training Organization, or SATMO, was recently recognized by the U.S Embassy Kosovo's Chief of the Office of Defense Cooperation (ODC) for their unique training support to the Kosovo's Security Force's (KSF) largest to date Field Training Exercise (FTX).

Eight U.S. Army SATMO trainers from Fort Bragg, N.C., assisted the KSF with its annual FTX, focusing on disaster response and civil agencies.

In a note to SATMO Commander Col. Joseph Bovy, Lt. Col. Bruce Murphy stated: "On short notice your agency was able to pick up the support to this mission and develop an outstanding team of SMEs (Subject Matter Experts) to advise and mentor the KSF during this critical capstone training event. The team lived and worked with their KSF brethren 24-7 during the FTX and immediately were welcomed and developed excellent rapport because of their dedication to supporting the KSF's training objectives."

During the exercise, the KSF conducted complex operations over several days and faced scenarios involving flood response, displaced persons, hazardous material response, and explosive ordnance disposal.

"This also highlights one of our initiatives to synchronize engagements with a host nation's SPP (State Partnership Program), when possible," Bovy said. "Iowa NG (National Guard) has the Kosovo SPP and has coordinated with SATMO on previous missions as well. The NGB (National Guard Bureau) has been very receptive to these mutually supportive efforts," Bovy added.

According to Murphy, ODC is developing a plan to synchronize potential future SATMO events with their efforts involving the Iowa NG.

Observers during the exercise included Kosovo President Atifete Jahjago, Kosovo Forces (KFOR), the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) Liaison and Advisory Team and Defense Attachés.

"Again, thank you (Bovy) and the SATMO team that supported our security cooperation efforts," Murphy said.

SATMO's motto is "Training the world, one Soldier at a time," and is capable of supporting worldwide deployments of Security Assistance Teams (SATs) to support Army Security Assistance requirements and missions outside the U.S. It can provide personnel, financial, and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) case management services and oversight and is a subordinate command of the U.S. Army Security Assistance Command.